


An eye for an eye

by cloudnine



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Backstory, Child Abuse, Eye Trauma, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Pre-Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, headcanons abound but I tried to base this of the information we get from supports, this is the first time ive ever used all the warning tags yikes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:59:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6505873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudnine/pseuds/cloudnine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In different countries, in different times: A similar pain is experienced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An eye for an eye

**Author's Note:**

> i don't think I've seen anyone address that Saizou also lost an eye so...yeah. Zero's background is different from Niles (aka in the localization), so I based this on the japanese version. also even though i skip a few years in Saizou's life they're still roughly the same age, it's just that when Saizou is older Zero was already with Leon. (like i tagged: lots of headcanons)
> 
> IMPORTANT: This has literally every single warning possible for a reason coming from Zero's side specifically so be wary and safe.

He was six when he realized he had no parents.

Old enough to understand the complicated words his gang told him, old enough to stay unperturbed when they told him his parents had abandoned him as a baby. They laughed at his expression, saying he was the lowest of the low, and if it weren't for them Zero would be dead. He was lucky they found him wandering the streets, begging for food when they decided to take him under their wing. He wasn't the only one, the group was filled with other children like him. None of them survived after the first week. Zero had taken the role of the youngest in the group in a month's time.

Away from his team in a corner of their base he cried, cried tears he hadn't let out since they started disciplining him to stop being a sobbing child. He always thought his gang was his family, and they were, but to learn the truth-the truth that he had a mother and a father who birthed him and left him. He thinks he remembers his mother, a hazy figure who carried him. His most vivid memory is of seeing this figure being pinned down by a larger one, and the screams she gave as Zero watched in a corner. That day he remembers eating actual meat and drinking clean water.

He hated his parents and he's glad they left him. They were nothing to him. His gang was his family, and they always will be. They will never abandon him like his parents did.

* * *

He was six when his father took him and his brother to start their formal training.

The rigid and strict discipline they were forced to abide by was nothing compared to the former teachings they had been receiving since they were born. His father made them climb the stone mountains and the walls of their dojo. He made them run for hours until they saw the sun set on the horizon. He left them for hours on top of bamboo poles as they learned to balance their bodies. He taught them how to shoot shuriken and kunai and how to kill the enemy in a single blow without weapons.

He watched from the sidelines as he and Suzukaze fought. His brother was faster than him, but he tired more easily. Their father always gazed at him with harsh disappointment in his eyes. His expectations had always been on Saizou since he had been born. 

That night his father called him to his room and told him the words Saizou would never forget.

"It is your duty as the oldest to accept your role as a leader. Suzukaze and the future of this clan depend on you." He tells him as the young boy listens steadily.

"You are a Saizou, and the day death comes for me you will receive the title passed down throughout our generations. Be prepared for it at all times."

He prostrated himself in front of him and bows to him, his eyes closed. 

"Yes, Father." 

* * *

He was nine when they told him to kill a man.

"Here," the boss tells him as he places a knife in his small hand, the boy staring at it with his blue eyes wide open. "It's time you learned how to protect yourself."

One of the men laugh as they hold on to the struggling gagged man. "You really think little ol' Zero is ready to murder a man?" 

Zero feels like shooting back that he can, that he's ready, but the boss speaks before him. "Either he learns to now or he gets left behind." He gives Zero a push. "Capiche, pup?"

The boy nods, so used to hearing the names they call him. When they gave him his formal name they said it was perfect for him, for a boy with nothing. Zero family, zero home, zero cash. He had nothing but the clothes on his back, but so did all of them. That's why they worked so well together. All rejects of society, loved by no one. Destined to die in the slums like dogs. Zero only ever accepted his name because he had no choice.

In a fucked up way he was glad they were finally allowing him to be part of the action. He was tired of them using him as a servant and as a playtoy. Everytime they ordered him to carry their weapons or hunt for petty cash by himself he would grit his teeth. He hated when they hit him for not getting enough money, for targeting people who were easy to steal from but had no cash. A feeling of anticipation surged through his body at knowing they finally saw the potential in him, and that he was slowly making his way up in their useless hierarchy. 

"This is the only chance you're getting on learning how to do this." He tells him as Zero holds the knife tightly in his fist. "Go on." He motions with his hand on his neck, Zero understanding the signal that meant to slit the man's throat. He had watched his teammates do this so many times, it seemed so easy. Only his nerves could stop him.

He walks up to the man being held by his hair, the tears and sobs coming from him doing nothing to Zero as they leave his neck exposed so he can slice it easily. 

He did it without hesitation. Him killing a man by his own hand and him watching as the others did was no different to him. The sobbing stopped and the blood gushed out. They take the cloth off his mouth and let go of his body. Zero thought he looked so peaceful now.

"Took you long enough." One of them tells Zero as he passes by him. "How's it feel, pup?"

Zero stares at the blood on the knife and his hands, the feeling so different from only seeing it when it was on someone else.

"Fine." He tells him.

The man chuckles, and Zero winces. He always hated how groggy the man sounded, but he understood it was because the man's vocal chords were damaged. He still hated hearing his voice being directed to him.

"You ain't supposed to feel nothing. We only kill to loot, got that? Don't go on a massacre now thinking you're some big shit."

"I know that." Zero tells him, anger in his tone and expression. One of the younger guys comes up to him and ruffles his hair, making Zero pout. "Don't take him seriously, little Zero. He's just trying to mess with you."

Zero stays silent as said man turns to the larger man with an eyepatch. "Hey boss, does this mean you're sending the pup off on covert missions?" 

The child glances to their boss, the man's only eye turning to him. He clicks his tongue. "Sure, if we ever need him."

They grabbed the body's loot, gold coins that would last them a week. One of them cursed that they only ever stole money from poor folk, which immediately elicited a hit to the face from the boss. 

"Don't go being ungrateful now. This is just the beginning." He lets out a huff. "One day, we'll scam a noble and we'll gouge their eyes out and sell them to organ traders." He turns his head to Zero, a snicker escaping his scarred lips. "Doesn't that sound nice, pup?"

Zero's own eyes twitch as he stares at the man's only eye. He didn't enjoy the idea of watching someone get their eyes taken off. The man seems to notice his nervous expression and grabs his chin.

"Don't give me that look, you fucker. You've seen worse."

He has. That doesn't mean his mind doesn't wander off to worse possibilities, it just means he expects them. 

When the man lets go of him they start walking back to their base, Zero still holding the bloody knife as steps over the dead body of the man he killed.

* * *

He was nine when he first stepped into Castle Shirasagi.

Saizou nor Suzukaze had ever seen such a huge edifice, so used to the small temples, shrines and dojos from Igasato. The castle in itself could probably house their whole village.

As they followed their father through the halls of the castle Saizou couldn't keep his eyes from taking every little detail in, from the designs on the walls to the golden statues that seemed to guard over them. He took them all in and engraved the memory into his mind. 

He felt he had reached the heavens his clan spoke so much about.

When they reach the main hall Saizou gazes at the king and queen with serious eyes, but inside he scanned every inch of them with anticipation. The new queen was astoundingly beautiful, her black flowing hair seemed endless to a child like Saizou, her smile so serene it gave him hope. In her hands she held a small baby, clearly a new born, the only strands of her pinkish-red hair poking out from her bonnet. 

His brother and him stand by his father's side as they bow to their leaders. Saizou had always thought his father was the most powerful person, but as he stares at the king and his regal posture so unlike his father he learns he still had much to know from the world outside the mountains. This was the man his father served, and the king who before has always been served by their clan. The legacy that bounded them to each other, and Saizou understood that one day he would also serve the future king after Sumeragi.

"You may stand." The ruler says as he follows his father and gets on his feet again. He notices the queen was staring at him with a graceful, knowing smile on her face which made the young Saizou fidget.

"Greetings, milord and milady. I bring to you my sons and the next heir to the Saizou name." When he hears his name Saizou holds his head high, placing his hands together and nodding to them as he was taught to do long ago. 

"Saizou the Fifth." The king gives him a smile as Saizou watched him, noticing the fire in the boy's eyes. Saizou thinks he seemed so much less intimidating now that he smiled, and he realizes this is what attracted people to follow him. "One day you shall serve my son in your father's place. Do you hold honor in these words?"

He knows Suzukaze is watching him, envious of the attention he derived apart from him. Even so, he knew his place as a mere member of the clan. He bows on his knees again, doing all the actions his father had always taught him on how to speak towards the royal family. "Yes, Your Highness. I will serve your son as my father did to you with all my honor. My loyalty belongs to you."

He hears the king hum in acceptance. "That is all I need to know." There's a turn of his head as he looks at his wife who rocks the baby in her arms. "My son should meet the boy who will serve him when he's older."

Saizou looks apprehensive as Mikoto tells one of her subordinates, a green-haired man with glasses to call for the prince. The man leaves without a second glance and while they wait for the boy to arrive Sumeragi speaks to his father.

His eyes open wide when the subordinate appears with the prince on his tow, a boy about his age who had an uncanny resemblance to his father. His hair was lighter and shorter than his parent but it was still long and acute, a curious glint in his boyish face as he gazed at the ninjas.

"Ryouma, these are the legendary ninjas from Igasato who have served our family for generations. The Fifth Saizou will one day serve you as it is tradition; I believe it was time for you to meet."

The prince has an elegant smile on his face as he strides over to them. He was surely his age but he already walked with such refinement and grandeur that only a member of the royal family could manage doing. His father nods at the young boy when he steps in front of them and Ryouma acknowledges him before looking at the twin brothers, excitement noticeable in his eyes.

"Are you twins?" Ryouma asks Suzukaze and the boy fidgets before he nods. "I see, how interesting. I also have a few siblings who I care deeply about. Which one of you is Saizou?"

Suzukaze looks to the side in mild disappointment as Saizou bows to him, his arms by his side. "I am the Fifth Saizou, my prince."

The boy giggles and Saizou's not sure how to react, having expected the prince to be more...princely. "You're so tense. There's no reason for you to be so nervous when you still aren't my retainer. As of now, we're friends." Saizou blinks in confusion as the boy extends his hand and he looks up to his father, who motions for him to shake it.

After some hesitation he grabs the boy's hand and they shake, a huge grin on the prince's face. "I'm Ryouma, the crowned prince of Hoshido. It is a pleasure to meet you, Saizou."

With all eyes on him he delays his response to the prince, unsure of what to answer. After a while he finally gives the boy a nod.

"The pleasure is mine, milord."

Months later, Suzukaze accompanies King Sumeragi on a diplomatic trip to Nohr. Saizou grumbled to himself at not being the one chosen to visit the other country but his father assured him it was to prepare Suzukaze for his duties as a messenger in the future. Saizou had more important things to worry about.

That night he hears the door of their room open and he pushes himself up, confusion apparent in his face. Suzukaze was supposed to return tomorrow, why was he here? Had something happened?

He notices how his brother's legs wobble, his arms trembling against his body. Saizou thought he looked like a ghost. 

He stands up and walks over to his brother, holding him in his arms. He asked and asked what had happened but his twin wouldn't answer, his eyes open wide as if the shock had left his expression like that.

When he feels him grab onto his yukata and sob words into his shoulder Saizou's own eyes shoot open.

"King Sumeragi is dead."

* * *

He was eleven when they sold his virginity. 

The boss pushes Zero in front of him, hands on his shoulders as he presents him to the larger man with rings on his fingers. He had facial hair like his boss but somehow even if his beard was cleanly cut unlike the man who held on to him and hadn't bathed in days Zero thought he looked a lot more disgusting.

"Just for you, never been touched." 

Zero rolls his eyes. What a lie, or did all the times they forced him to gag on their dicks not count? Throughout the years he had gotten more defiant towards them, a scowl almost always present on his face. It mostly started when they took advantage of him. They said Zero needed to learn, that it was a part of life and that eventually he would thank them for training him. He now understood why.

The man examines him and Zero feels his body reject the gaze, feeling disgusted and already tainted by the look. He wants nothing more than to stick a knife in his eyes so he stopped looking at him.

"He's too young." 

His boss laughs and Zero hates it, he always has. "That's never stopped anyone before." He says so eagerly that it makes Zero want to vomit. "Come on, you said you liked them young, didn't you?"

The disgusting man who smelled of perfume and things Zero had never smelled in his life gave him another glance, hand on his chin, scanning his body up and down.

"He doesn't have any diseases?" He asks and Zero feels like a dog, like a pet who was being sold to a human owner. Right now he could be with his other comrades stealing and kidnapping people but instead he was here, the man's hands on his shoulders as he tried to make money off his body.

"I said he was untouched." The tone is harsher now, tired of the man asking so many questions. "He doesn't."

The man sighs after a while and motions for his guards. He hated that he was doing this. The man was clearly defenseless and out of shape, it would be so easy for him and Zero to kill the man and take his jewels, but instead he handed him over like he had no choice. 

"I'll clean you up when we get home." The man says as he motions for his guards to give Zero's boss the money. He watches at the man's takes the sack of bullion, the boy's eyes going wide in betrayal. 

Before the man can take him he looks at the man he calls a leader one last time. His gaze is so uncaring and dismissive it makes Zero want to throw the man down and wring his neck. He seems to realize this might be the last time he sees him so he lowers himself to his level and looks at Zero in the eye. 

"Realize your place, Zero. We all go through this. These filthy perverts love poor little orphan children from the slums they can take without facing authorities. Your body isn't yours."

Those words resounds around his mind as the man pulls him away and he continues to gaze at his seller with wide eyes. His seller, the man he had called a boss for so many years. The man who taught him how to steal and kill, how to survive. He only ever cared about his own survival.

They continue to resound as the perverted man touches his naked skin. If his body wasn't his then who did it belong to? The Gods? He didn't believe in them, none of them did.

While the man caresses his body in places he's never even touched himself he concludes his body wasn't his, but his mind was.

* * *

He was eleven when he first assassinated someone.

Saizou had been trained for this his whole life. As years passed he awaited until his father would finally give him a mission. The day came soon enough and he received his first order: To assassinate a corrupt Nohrian bandit who plunged Hoshidan villages. 

It seemed easy enough. His father gave him his first ever dagger that actually belonged to him. He passed his fingers through it as his father told him where he had to go and what he had to do. Even if this was his first true mission this was also a test to see if Saizou's training had worked out. When his father finishes he exits their base, ready to leave until he hears the footsteps of someone behind him.

"Brother."

Saizou turns to find his twin. He looked so much younger than him, so scared and meek even though they were twins. Saizou had slowly been separating himself from him as his duties became more serious, not having any more time to play with him. He had to grow up faster than Suzukaze, it was his duty. 

"What is it?" He asks as he tugs down the scarf around his face. Suzukaze stares at him, sadness and worry evident in his eyes as he walks closer to him. 

"I..." The words are lost in his lips and Saizou is ready to tell him this is urgent before Kaze embraces him. Saizou's eyes go wide.

"Please be careful, Brother. I know you're capable enough to do this on your own but as your brother I still worry for you." He listens to the boy's words as he closes his eyes and savors the moment. They hadn't hugged or showed any affection to each other ever since their father told him emotions were a weakness. He feels Suzukaze clench his fingers in the back of his shirt as he presses his head onto his shoulder. Saizou sighs, understanding his brother was worried but if he didn't do this now his father would never see him as a true shinobi.

He lets go of Suzukaze but holds onto his arm as he whispers the words: "I'll be back tomorrow."

They press their foreheads together as it was custom for brothers in their clan to do. When he leaves he still feels Suzukaze's worried eyes on him.

When he reaches the village where the bandit was suspected to attack he dispels his invisibility jutsu, deciding it was time to use his stealth and hiding techniques. He stands in an oak tree as he watches the peaceful village, only few people still going about their lives in the darkness. He watches a girl too young to be awake run to what seemed to be her mother, pulling at her dress.

The sudden scream from a woman pulls Saizou away from the girl and he realizes the girl's worried eyes had been for a reason.

The bandit was here. It was evident by the sudden shouting and the woman grabbing the girl in her arms, running away. He jumps from the tree and strides to where he hears the scream come from. Stepping behind a wall of a house he looks across the corridor to find a large, beastly looking man with a woman in his shoulder and a bag of stolen goods.

The fowl man seems to be distracted with the screaming woman and Saizou takes it as the perfect time to stop this. He closes one eye and with the other makes sure to target correctly into the man. Feeling sure he throws the shuriken so quick none of them notice until it penetrates the man's leg. There's a loud shout of pain as the man looks below him to find himself bleeding, the shuriken digging deep. 

"A ninja." He says so low but Saizou still listens, so close but the man hadn't found his position. The woman stops her screaming as the bandit turns in circles, trying to find the culprit of his wound. Saizou takes this moment to throw a smoke bomb. He hears the man cough as the smoke starts to fill the air, the woman's sob audible as Saizou ran closer. 

He stands before the man but he doesn't notice, Saizou's child body and light moving so quick and invisible he couldn't stop when Saizou sticks a kunai down his throat. The sounds of the man gurgling and screaming in pain are so loud it hurts Saizou's ears as he tries to take the woman from the man's hand.

It didn't work. His body was too small that he couldn't pull the woman and the man still having some energy grabs Saizou. The boy's eyes shoot wide in desperation, sudden panic that he had miscalculated the bandit's power as he struggles against the man's large hand.

"Heh," The man manages to spit out, some blood falling into Saizou's face. "They sent a  _child_ to kill me? Have the ninjas underestimated me so much?"

Saizou doesn't understand how the man can even speak with how much blood is leaving his throat with the kunai stuck there. He wasn't human, he couldn't be. He struggles until he finds a weak point and sticks another dagger in the man's hand. It's as if nothing happened, the pain from his throat completely making any other wound in his body seem like nothing. Saizou's eyes start watering as the man laughs and holds onto his throat tighter.

Would he die like this? So young, still haven't experienced so many things in life. His father would be disappointed, instead of sadness he would feel disgrace at his weak son who was supposed to be the next Saizou.

Then he remembers Suzukaze. The thought of never seeing him again, seeing his rare smiles, how they played together. How he promised he would see him tomorow.

He couldn't die here. Not like this. 

He grabs onto the kunai in his throat and digs it in deeper, the blood gushing out and hitting his face. There's so much blood in his eyes he can't even see the man's face as he continues to clench his throat, oxygen becoming scarce for Saizou.

Suddenly he feels the hand in his throat soften. He takes in a needed deep breathe as the man lets go off him, his body soon following and falling to the floor. He grabs onto the woman whose dress was covered in blood, her sobs so hysterical it made Saizou's heart pound. He's too weak to carry her as she falls over him, the man besides them, finally dead.

He cleans some of the blood off his face with his arm, watching as the woman cried. He quickly stands up and walks to the body, the man's eyes and mouth wide open, his armor filled with blood. He pulls the kunai from his throat and cleans it with his scarf when it's finally off. He couldn't let any weapons go to waste, that's what his father had taught him. 

Saizou helps the hysteric woman stand up, seeing if she was in any pain. She didn't seem to have any noticeable wound apart from her trauma so he lets one of the village men take her. He walks over to the discarded bag and opens it. 

Food. Daikon. Rice. Beans. Were the Nohrians so desperate they would go to a defenseless village and steal their agriculture? Saizou couldn't understand. 

He picks the bag and starts walking, ready to leave the village before he feels someone tugging at his pants. He turns to find the girl he had been watching before looking at him, her brown hair cupping her freckled face, huge brown eyes as she gives him something. He takes it and finds a quartz, something he hadn't seen since he was a boy. They could be found all around Hoshido but he had stopped swimming in rivers when he was younger to know if there were still any left. The girl gives her a smile and runs off, the worried mother looking at them with a grateful smile on her face as she watched the boy who had saved their village.

He tugs the quartz into his pocket and throws the bag over his shoulder, truthfully leaving the village this time. 

When he reaches Igasato his arms and legs were tired from carrying the bag with food inside. He was mostly clean now except his clothes which still held the stains of blood from the bandit. It felt disgusting but Saizou couldn't admit it, if he did he would be seen as weak. It was a feeling he would have to get used to. Still, he hated that his scarf was especially dirty. At least it was proof of his victory.

He had bathed himself in a nearby river, grateful at seeing the clean water calling him. When he saw his reflection in the river he thought he looked like a monster. Not the monsters he and Suzukaze read about in books, but a human who had lost all humanity. His face and hands were full of blood, there was a noticeable scar in his throat from the man's clenching. He looked away, eyes shutting close. He didn't want to see himself like this. He quickly took his clothes off and cleaned himself, only later arriving at his home.

He wasn't sure if his father was still awake, if he would wait for Saizou to return. He knew Saizou would return that same evening, he wasn't as fast as his brother but he had trained himself enough to be able to reach him. When he steps into the house his eyes shoot open, finding a shadowy figure hiding beneath a wind chime.

Without a moment's hesitation Saizou steps before him and throws the bag in front of him. It was clear evidence that he had stopped the bandit. If he didn't believe him, the blood on his clothes would say otherwise. He hears a hum before his father's eyes lock with his eyes, a noticeable glint of pride in his dark eyes.

"You have done well, son."

He takes in his father's praise, the words he longed to hear since forever. He was worthy, he was deemed acceptable of being a Saizou. This was only the beginning, he had been lucky tonight but he still needed to train. Tonight had been too close.

His brother is asleep as he drags open the door to their room. He seemed so peaceful, so unaware of what Saizou had gone through. To think that someday Suzukaze would have to embark on missions like this. A noticeable pit of discomfort and worry appears in his stomach as he lays down besides him, passing the covers over his body. Rest seemed so far away for him.  

The next day he returns to Castle Shirasagi where he and Suzukaze now spend their days passing by messages and delivering letters around Hoshido. It seems the servants could sense the pride in Saizou as he goes around his work. 

He has been here so many times now but this is the first time his eyes meet with another girl his age. He notices by her clothing that she was also a ninja, a kunoichi from another clan. 

"You must be Saizou." She tells him, so softly it almost goes pass his ears.

"I am." He replies at the girl's polite tone. Was she a noble? She spoke so formally, something he wasn't used to from other ninjas. 

"I met your brother, if you're wondering why I know your name." Saizou blinks at the girl's smiling face as he nods in understanding. The girl steps before him, her long ebony hair flowing behind her ponytail.

"My name's Kagerou. My family also serves King Sumeragi and Queen Mikoto." She finally tells him, bowing her head. He knew there were other clans who also served the royal family but he had never met them. It felt pleasantly nice to meet another ninja his age who wasn't Suzukaze. He wondered what were her duties here.

He means to ask before the loud yelp of another girl stops them. His eyebrows furrow as a girl who looked like a diviner stepped before them, grabbing onto Kagerou's arm.

"Kagerou, why did you leave? I thought we were spending the day together!"

There's a noticable discomfort in Kagerou as she turns to Saizou, clasping her hands together. "I apologize, it seems I have some matters to attend to. It was a pleasure to meet you, Saizou."

He gives her a bow. "Likewise."

When she and the spunky girl leave he stays for a while as he listens to the girl tell Kagerou something about trying to sound so formal towards a boy, saying she was jealous.

* * *

He was thirteen when he attempted to escape.

Two years ago Zero had been sold by the person he trusted the most to a noble man with so many riches he didn't know what to spend them on. He spend months with the man, doing whatever he asked until he finally let go off him. Zero couldn't believe he was being set free, he thought he would be happier but the thought of returning to his base and meeting the man who sold him only made him angry, and specifically, sad. His companions probably thought Zero had spend those months scorching himself in food and riches. 

Being chained inside the man's basement to hide him from the other nobles who went to parties in his home didn't seem like the good life he and his buddies always talked about.

When he returns they shower him with questions and ruffle his hair, as if he were still the same child who left them months ago. They specifically asked if he had any leftovers.

When the boss sees him, still the same rough, disfigured look he had from before Zero walks up to him, ignoring the other men.

"Well, well. If it isn't our favorite pup. Enjoyed your time in the hell house?" 

So he knew, he knew the man was a disgusting pedophile who kept children locked up until he found them useless. When Zero started becoming eager for the man he touched him less. It was as if he enjoyed children who struggled against him. He knew and that's why he sold Zero to him, knowing full well he would gain so much gold from selling him. 

Zero scoffs. What was even the point. He still looked dirty and poor as he did months ago. He probably spend all his money on booze. He should have at least bought the sofa they've been asking about since he was young. 

As the man gazes at him, taking a drink of his cheap alcohol, Zero smirks at him and the rest of the gang members look at him like he had said or done the weirdest thing.

"Sure did. Learned so much more than I ever did from you lowlifes."

His boss stares at him, surprised by Zero's sudden personality change before he places the bottle roughly on the floor.

"So Zero is a cocky little asshole now, huh? Did you like being turned into a whore?"

"Did you?" One of the guys lets out a "Oooooh" sound and the boss turns to glare at him, effectively shutting him up. 

"Nice to see you've learned your place, pup. Guess you've been promoted to sly dog now." 

The other gang members laugh as they push Zero around in supposed congratulation. 

Across the years he continued to follow his group as they plunged people's houses, stole their food, their money, and even once in a while pleasured themselves with the women they found. They killed and slaughtered other gangs until they were known around the slums as a gang who no one wanted to mess with. Many of them were convinced they had reached this point thanks to the new Zero. 

He felt so alive. He never thought he would see the day where he would get high on the exhilaration of stealing and killing nobles. It was as if all the pain and anger he felt during those months captive where taken out on this people, and revenge had never felt so sweet.

Zero made some money for himself in the red light district, finding men who enjoyed his young body and experienced technique. The disgust he felt towards using his body to gain money turned into a sadistic pleasure as he let them do what they wanted with him. It was easy, easier than stealing or killing. Men were putty in his hands. He soon learned that in this world anything could be sold for money. 

He had changed. He wasn't the same boy from before. His eyes still held the same fierce blue but now the past innocence they held had disappeared. 

Still, that didn't change the fact that he was tired of the abuse that came from the hands of his gang. Some days they treated him like their illegitimate son, others they treated him like a worthless sack. With the gold he now had he was convinced he could escape from them and leave the underground. He'd never even seen the sun rise.

After a night of doing some sex work he returns to the base to find his boss sitting, waiting for him. He swallows a lump in his throat, his heart beating loudly. The man doesn't even look at him when he speaks.

"Finally returned? Aren't little boys supposed to be in bed at this hour?"

He doesn't answer, trying to hide the gold he had earned today inside his coat. The only sound present was the man's foot tapping against the floor, but Zero thought he could hear his heartbeat echo inside the room. 

"Zero, come here."

"No."

The sound of the man's boot tapping on the dirty floor ceased. He turned his head to look at Zero clearly, his blood red eye bringing Zero memories of everything the man had done to him.

"What was that?"

"I said no." He exclaims, his voice firmer.

The man's only eye twitches as he crosses his arms, which only meant the man was serious now. Zero knew this after so many times of defying him.

"You're really gonna be like this?"

"Yes."

Zero knew he couldn't escape, the man was bigger and stronger than him. With his light body he might slip out from the man's hand but the other members would still stop him eventually. He was doomed. The man stands up and walks over to Zero, the boy rooted to the spot.

"You've been selling your body and taking the money for yourself, haven't you?" 

Zero gulps, his heartbeat so loud he felt like he would have a stroke. He hadn't felt this nervous, this scared in so long.

"Money you're supposed to share with us." He grabs onto Zero's hair and put his thumb over Zero's eye, the boy struggling in his grip. "Did you forget you're part of a team, that if it weren't for us you'd be dead years ago? We give you food, shelter and protection and this is how you repay us!?"

The man's sharp nail is so close to his closed eye he could easily pluck his eye out and leave him blind. He could easily end up like him, an eyepatch on his face for the rest of his miserable life.

"Where are you gonna go, huh!? Answer me that! You're nothing without us." He shouts so loud Zero sobs, telling him to stop. After a while of watching Zero struggle and beg him to cease he lets go of his hair, the boy falling to his knees.

"Now stop being such a baby and go sell yourself for us like the whore you are."   

When the man finally leaves him Zero cries, cries like he's been holding up his tears for years, which he has.

He hated them. He hated them so much. He wished he were dead. It'd be better than turning into a monster and having to deal with the pain they subjected him to. He didn't know who he was anymore, or if he ever was anyone.

He isn't as sure as he was years ago about his mind belonging to him. 

* * *

He was sixteen when his father died. 

It had been so unexpected, so impossible. Saizou couldn't, he _wouldn't_ believe the words the other clan members told him. He and Suzukaze stood side by side, so much older now. They had both grown into handsome young men, if the ladies words were something to go by. Saizou had decided he couldn't handle the looks the women gave him, so he had been gifted with a mask by his father to hide his face and identity from them. Suzukaze still stood by with his face exposed, young ladies flocking him as if he were a celebrity instead of a ninja.

The sound of Saizou punching the bamboo floor awakened everyone from their silence. 

"Who!? Who was it!?" He asks so angrily and desperate as he latches and pulls one of the clan members by the shirt. His eyes are so scared but Saizou feels no remorse, no pity. He needed to know who had killed his father.

"Brother, stop. There's nothing you can do." Suzukaze tells him as he grabs his arms, always the most resolute and relaxed one. Always so soft and polite. "Revenge will eat inside of you like a parasite."

Really? He would tell him these words now? Did he not care that their father had been reported to be killed, murdered in cold blood? He always knew Suzukaze didn't love their father. He never had.

The next words that come from his twin are what stop him.

"The clan is your responsibility now."

His eyes go wide as he lets go of the man, turning his head to the other members watching him. They all looked so scared, so defeated like him. But Saizou was the only one latching out.

He remembers the words his father told him.

He was a fool, so angry, so tired that he forgot his father would never want this. He always told him he needed to be prepared for when the time came that he was thrown into the pit. He always thought he was so prepared, so ready for whenever his father died. Now the time came and all he wanted was to take revenge and avenge his father's death. 

But he couldn't. Not yet. Not when their clan had no leader, not when they had no clear path. It was his responsibility to bring order and control to their hectic situation. 

He closes his eyes. Why couldn't have Suzukaze been the next Saizou? He was more controlled, smarter and tactical than him. When his brother looks at him with pleading eyes he knows that it was all on him, he was the one who had to take responsibility. Suzukaze couldn't even decide himself on a lord to serve.

He takes a deep breath, regaining control, gazing at his clan with fiery eyes.

Saizou the Fifth had awaken.  

* * *

He was fourteen when he lost his eye. 

There was no choice left for him anymore and he had accepted his fate. His gang was his life, the slums were his life. There was nowhere else for him. He would never escape this lifestyle.

The younger man who now had scars over his face nudges him and Zero turns to the the group. Lately he never looked at the boss in the eye, and he let him. He knew Zero could be as defiant as he pleased but it would do nothing to his situation. 

They stepped outside the base as rain poured and hit their bodies. The other men always cursed when it rained but Zero enjoyed it, he loved how the water fell across his shoulders and cleansed him. It was the closest to accounting for his sins he ever had.

Across the years the boss looked worse. He grew older, noticeable tints of gray in his beard. His disfigured face full of wrinkles. Zero thought he looked despicable, a man from the slums who had lived to be his age. Zero wasn't jealous, just angry. Angry because he survived so long using Zero.

Their plan for today was to infiltrate the festivities in a noble house. They had been planning this for days, Zero listening closely at every detail of the castle so he didn't compromise them. The boss grabs his chin as he forces Zero to look up at him. 

"You're our decoy. You mess this up and we're done for."

Years ago he would have been so grateful of being given the honor of holding the most important role in the mission, now he felt despair. If he fucked up they would latch out at him and hurt him like they always did. It was as if he did it on purpose, like he enjoyed hitting Zero.

Once they reached the palace they motion for Zero to take his place. He swallows the lump in his throat and his hands start to sweat as he walks up to the entrance, beginning his act. The guards look at the boy walking up to them with wobbly feet, one of them motioning to the other to go check on him. As they focus on Zero his gang climbs up the castle's walls.

"Please, sir." He mutters. "Water...I need water."

The soldier looks back to the other one and moves to leave the boy. When his back turns Zero starts to panic, thoughts of his boss hitting him in his mind as he coughs loudly and throws himself to the ground. Effectively, the man turns around.

"Help my mother, please..." The soldier kneels before him, clear disgust in his face at his dirty complexion. Zero watches at the corner of his eyes as his teammates scale the walls. If he kept this on a little longer they would make it inside. Everything would go well. Zero would finally receive praise instead of insults.

"Where is she?" The guard asks him and he opens his mouth to answer before he gasps loudly as he watches one of his companions fall. The soldier notices where he's looking at and turns, catching the thieves in the act.

Zero's world ends.

He runs as the guard calls to the other and points to the men climbing. He tries to grab Zero but he escapes him, running without looking at his team. He hears the sound of shouting and he thinks they're probably getting caught, hands bounded as they curse at Zero for failing.

If they caught the boss he was free. If the boss went to prison Zero wouldn't have to be in the gang anymore.

He reaches the base, his coat soaked from the rain. He had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to shield himself from the pouring rain. It felt so lonely without his comrades laughing or shouting. He didn't miss them though. This place belonged to him now.

He's so tired from running he feels his eyes start to close so he decides to take a nap. It's not like he had any worries anymore. No one would find him, no one could stop him. He'd decided what to do later.

Zero wakes up to the sound of the door opening. His heart thumps loudly against his chest. It couldn't be, they were free? They hadn't been caught. He tries to hide but he hears one of the familiar voices shout his name. He was dead, they wouldn't let him live this down. 

He puts the coat over his head as he tries to stifle his breathing, hearing the man's footsteps so close to where he hid. His eyes open wide when one of them find him, blood on his face, clear sign of a struggle. He smirks as Zero shakes his head, pleading with his eyes to not call _him_. 

"Hey, boss. Found the rat who left us to die."

Zero is already running before the other men surround him and he hears them moving the crates away. When Zero's eyes meet his he feels utter defeat. He should have escaped. He shouldn't have returned to the base. He should have killed himself when he had the chance. 

"You idiot, you little fucker!" He pushes the crates away with his feet, stomping towards the boy. The man's shouts are so loud it makes Zero tremble as he holds his coat against his body.

"You still don't know your place!? You compromised our mission!" 

Zero's eyes go wide in fear, the fear he had always expected he would feel one day as he watches the man grab a knife from his pocket.

"I always knew you needed strict discipline, and now you're going to get what you deserved." He laughs and it's so sinister it makes Zero want to die, want to throw himself over the bridge near their base. Want to die by his own hand than by the man's. 

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this." He drawls as he grabs a hold of Zero's hair, his other hand holding onto the knife so close to his right eye.

"No, stop! Please!"

The other men hold him down as the man gets on top of him to stop his thrashing. He lets go of his hair and forcibly opens the skin around his eye. His eye twitches as he thrashes and screams for them to let go, for him to stop. He promises him that he would never make a mistake again, that he would never leave them again.

"No use begging now, pup. That's right," He drags the knife across his cheek. "You're still a pup." 

The begging and words Zero shouted did nothing to the man as he dug the tip of the knife into his socket.

His screams are so loud they have to gag him with a cloth, his other eye shooting open as he thrashes against the pinning of his arms and legs.  

"I've always thought your eyes would look good in someone's collection, ever since I first laid eyes on you as a baby." The larger man says as he digs around and finally pulls his eye out.

"Too bad, they looked the best on you."

Zero thought he had died. His body stopped, he didn't feel anything anymore as the man stands up and motions for one of the others to get him a container. 

"One eye should be enough to restrain you. Now you look just like me, as if you were the son I never had." The man laughs and it resounds against his ears. The sounds of his laughter and something being opened around him felt so much more vivid now that he could only see through one eye. 

Hours passed as the other members tended to his eye, passing a dirty cloth across his face, the only medical supplies they had so rundown and used Zero wouldn't be surprised if he got a disease from them. 

"Here," The scarred young man tells him as he puts something over his head and accommodates it to his face. 

"Heh, you truly look like the boss with that on."

Zero drags his hand up and touches the eyepatch now over his eye. The leather feels intruding and itchy on his still hurting eye but when he turns to look at the man he feels better now that no one was looking at his wound. 

"You'll get used to it, Boss did." He tells him as he cleans some of the blood still on Zero's cheek. 

He does get used to it, used to having to do everything with less visibility. They took no pity in him as they continued to force Zero to play as decoys, now fully sure Zero would never betray them. 

Zero never smiled anymore, if was as if he returned to being the boy he was before he was sold. 

One night he watches his boss walk out of their base alone. He wondered if the man was going to the red light district, or go drinking. He doesn't know if it's because the man is so old now but he stopped coming with them on raids, and he stopped asking Zero to suck his dick. The last time he did he passed his fingers through Zero's hair saying something about looking like "hers". He wasn't sure what he meant, but he was relieved the man never touched him again.

He falls asleep as he watches the man's back leave, his eye closing with the image of him, his eyepatch discarded besides his head.

Zero didn't know it would be the last time he saw him.

A few hours later or the next day, Zero isn't sure, he wakes up to the man who had given him the eyepatch motioning him to wake up. He listens to him as he watches how tense the man seemed, so unlike his usual joking character. 

He follows him to where everyone else was, all of them having the same tense posture, a cold wind in the air as Zero sits down in one of the crates. The young man kneels in front of Zero, as he always did when he had to tell something important to him. Zero finally notices their boss wasn't here.

He stares at the man's face with his blue eye, unsure of what to expect until the words leave the man's mouth.

"Boss is dead."

Zero stays sitting, no expression in his face as he turns his face away from him and places his hand below his chin.

He feels nothing.

He should feel happy, he should feel free. The man who had oppressed him for so long had died. The man who had taken his eye had died.

Instead, he feels like crying. He hated that he always saw him as a father, even after all he did to him. 

He has never felt so alone, even with all his comrades around him. 

At least he died after doing what he always wanted to do, Zero thinks as he touches his right eye hidden behind the eyepatch.

* * *

He was eighteen when he lost his eye.

It had been two years since his father's death. Life had come and went. As the Fifth Saizou he was finally assigned to be Prince Ryouma's retainer, a fate he had known since long ago but had yet to happened. There was no surprise when Kagerou was assigned to be his other guard, the girl he had become friends with as a child having grown so beautiful and skilled as an adult woman. 

Kagerou and him started dating months ago, a situation expected by everybody. The diviner who he now knew as Orochi send him glares as Kagerou announced their union. She and Kagerou hadn't had the time to be together anymore since she had been appointed as Mikoto's retainer, now Kagerou spend the most time around Saizou since they both worked as Ryouma's bodyguards. It was a jealousy she would have to get over.

Even with how peaceful times seemed Saizou wouldn't let the memory of the night his father died disappear. He had spend two years digging and finding information until he deciphered out that the man who murdered him had been the daimyo of Mokushu.

He had never felt so sick in his life, he felt like he wanted to vomit but at the same time his blood boiled in acceleration at finally having found out who had committed the crime. Kotaro was a man his father had been friends with since long ago, even Saizou had met him. To think the man who had watched over them as they trained, who laughed with his father as they embraced was the man who betrayed him only made Saizou regret letting the man run free even longer.

Two years had been enough. His brother should understand. He had to do this. The man needed to own up for his crimes. He needed to die. He took his father from Saizou, he would take his life from him. 

That night he escaped Kagerou's embrace. A kiss was placed on her forehead before he left to the kingdom he had long ago visited. 

He should have never gone is what she and his brother who have told him. He was walking right into death's arms as she took him in her embrace.

If it meant avenging his father, he was ready for death. 

He steps into the battlefield as he watches a fire burning in the crisp, cold air but no one around.

"Kotaro!" He shouts so loudly the men had to pay attention to him now.

Some clan members make themselves visible, watching Saizou like prey. He stays firm as he calls for Kotaro again.

One of the the men steps before him. "He ain't here. Even if he were he wouldn't waste his time with a kid like you." Some of the other men laugh. "Tell us, why are you looking for our king?"

His eyes flare up at the dismissive attitude, if Kotaro wasn't here he would still plant his mark by hurting his clansmen. Then Kotaro would defintly have to pay attention to him. His nostrils inhale a furious breath, his hand clenched around the dagger his father had given him. 

The men watch him, more serious now. Saizou had been a fool to walk into the hornet's trap. A Saizou against the men who killed his father, the clan surrounding him.

"Some kid looking for revenge?" One of the clan members roars with laughter and the others soon follow.

Saizou throws a shuriken in the direction of the laughing man and there's an audible gasp as the man falls from the tree he was hiding from. The man who spoke to him before lets out a snort, deriving some amusement from the situation as he walks passed his now dead comrade. Saizou just wanted the man to look at him seriously.

"Your eyes seem familiar." He says and Saizou feels his heart thump loudly against his chest. "One of the Kohga tribe? Or a lone man looking for revenge?"

The now adult ninja stares at the man with such intensity he could feel it digging into his skin like if poison started to surge through his veins.

"My name is Saizou. Your daimyo killed my father."

Some of the men make howling noises, something they seemed used to do. It seemed a man looking for revenge against them was a common occurrence. The man gives the "boy" a smirk as he throws his shuriken in the air, waiting for his reactions. "A Saizou? Why would Kotaro care for the heir of this weak clan? Your father died by Kotaro's hands so easily."

Saizou's eyes shoot wide open as the man admits to the crime his leader had committed, throwing a dagger without thinking too much from it. The masterful ninja dodges it so easily it makes the other clan members whoop.

"Bring Kotaro now or I'll end you all before you even continue to laugh." He gets in battle position, his mask tightly placed on his face as the men continue to smirk at him. "Kotaro will die by my hand today!"

He doesn't take the accusation seriously and Saizou can feel his blood boil. The man seemed so dismissive, so bored with Saizou, as if he saw him as a child with no abilities. Some of the men start moving from the trees, getting themselves down and surrounding Saizou until he has no escape, every inch having one of the clansmen watching him.

"You came at a bad time looking for revenge, boy. Kotaro isn't here right now."

Saizou grits his teeth. He was underestimating him, that's why he hadn't showed his face. He thought he didn't even need to fight Saizou, leaving his henchmen to do his dirty work. 

Even if Saizou tried to leave he couldn't. He was too angry, too resentful that he didn't calculate the chances of survival he would have here. The men surrounded him, a circle around him as they held shurikens and daggers in their hands, a glint of sadistic amusement in their eyes. Mokushu was the most despicable country alive, even next to Nohr.

He jumps to try and escape but one of the men grabs a hold of his leg. It was useless trying to escape and fight with other ninjas, Saizou's techniques and training was nothing to them as he slashes at them. 

A fight of ten men against one began as Saizou dodges and attacks with furiosness, latching out as much as he could against the men. His armor was nothing against theirs, the man slashing at his clothes until his skin cut deep. The pain was nothing to Saizou, so used to it that he continued to evade the slashes the men threw at him. 

It's not until the man who spoke to him gets close that Saizou feels panic surge in his being. It was a one on one battle now as Saizou tried to hit the man but couldn't. The man swung his dagger and cut through his chest and his arms. Saizou didn't think it could get any worse until he almost doesn't dodge a cut through his face.

He would cut his face? Was the man so despicable, so inhumane? Did he hold no respect towards other ninjas? He continues to dodge but eventually one of the men grabs a hold of Saizou's wrist.

Saizou knew it was over. 

He looks at the man with his blood red eyes as he struggles.

The dagger slashes so close to his face, so close.

Until it cuts through his eye.

Saizou screams, the pain so deep and resounding it stops his movements as he falls to his knees. It was nothing like the pain he had experienced before, it was so much worse. He could feel his eyes bleed as well as the side of his face almost reaching his cheek. All he could see is the red substance in his eye as the men laughed and mocked him.

"Weak, your whole clan is weak. Now you have a scar to prove it, to show everyone how weak you are." The man tells him as he kicks his face, Saizou falling to the dirt once again.

"It was an amusing distraction, but we never kill without our daimyo in the presence." He explains as he digs his boot in Saizou's cheek, the barely adult ninja ignoring him as he focuses on his bleeding eye. 

There's another kick to his face as Saizou starts loosing consciousness, unable to watch the man with his only source of vision, only hearing the spit the man throws near his face.

"Never show your face here again or we'll make _sure_ the Saizou clan is no more."

He had come here to die, instead he was left barely alive, his eye blinded by the blood and damaged. The cuts in the rest of his body meant nothing anymore, they were trivial compared to the wound on his face. The Mokushujin man laughs at his demise as they leave Saizou gasping for breath on the ground. 

Time passes by so seemingly slow for Saizou as he lays on the ground with no sign of moving. They said they didn't kill if Kotaro wasn't around, but leaving someone for dead apparently didn't count. He had lost so much blood from his eye and cut, he knew a scar would form and remind him of tonight, of the failure and pain he had brought upon himself.

He regains some energy as he holds onto his face, his movements so slow it seemed as if all his stealth had disappeared. He walks sluggishly, his knees and arms weak, holding onto the trees as he makes his way back to Igasato. 

He couldn't let himself die in Mokushu. If he would die, he would die in his homeland. A Saizou deserved at least that honor, an honor having been taken from his father.

There was also the fact that he couldn't die and leave his clan alone once again. With no heir in sight who would take the leadership, Suzukaze? The boy had grown so much stronger than what his father would have ever expected, but with his father dead he didn't hide his polite and peaceful nature any longer. Suzukaze never found honor in his father's ideals. 

He feels himself fall once he reaches Igasato but arms wrap around his body as they hold on to him. He tries to open his eye to see who it was but when he feels the woman's cleavage against him and the familiar arms he sighs, letting himself relax in Kagerou's arms.

"Saizou!" She cries as she examines him, cuts and scars over his body. A hand plastered on his face as if to hide his shame. 

"Why did you-Why Saizou!?" Her cries did nothing to Saizou as he leans his head on her shoulder. She moves him to his lap and slaps his hand away, a loud gasp of agony leaving her lips as she stares at his face. 

"Your eye..."

Kagerou touches his cheek and he feels the scar forming across his face. To think he had let that man take the best of him. He knew it would serve as a constant reminder of his defeat, of his failure. Kagerou would scream and shout at him for not listening to her for all these years, for digging his grave by seeking revenge. If Suzukaze wasn't on an errand he would also latch out at him. He couldn't keep it from Kagerou, he should at least keep it from his twin. It was for the best. No one should know Saizou let himself be wounded by the Mokushujin. 

Kagerou's sobs get louder as she presses a cloth to his eye, unsure of what to do. 

This was worse than death. Being in her arms without control over his body, over his eye. He would never look at her perfectly ever again. 

He expects her to insult him, instead he receives a cry that echos across the mountains he knew since he was young.

"I'm just grateful that you're alive..."

The pain had been long forgotten. Only his dignity was left. He had lost his father and now his pride. 

But he was still alive. He would get another chance.

Someday, Kotaro would die by his hand. 

He was eighteen when Saizou barely survived. 

* * *

He was fifteen when his gang betrayed him.  

Zero was a fool, to think that he had spend so many years knowing they were scoundrels, dirty rats who only cared of themselves. Zero had been raised to be used by them, to distract and be a source of money. When Zero got useless, they wouldn't have delayed leaving him. 

Without the boss they had no clear leader, their heists had no order and tactic as they merely killed and stole without calculating their movements.

It all seemed to change when one of them found an entrance to a palace. Castle Krakenburg. Home of the Nohrian royal family. Zero and his gang had visited many palaces in their lives but none was as important as this one.

It was a futile attempt. Mere thieves without a leader trying to plunge the home of the most powerful people in Nohr would fail instantly. After all these years they still hadn't learned. Or they were so desperate they didn't care for the danger it would bring them.

They infiltrated easily enough, no noticeable guards or people around. Zero thought it had been too easy, too accessible for them to enter. He follows them as they grabbed anything that seemed of value. Zero didn't, still skeptical about the situation.

One of them pushes Zero and tells him to carry some stuff but he ignores him as he walks to a window and takes in the view of the dark castle inside the crater. Without the boss he didn't have any reason to listen to them any longer. He just followed them to eat and have a place to sleep. 

There's the sound of a vase falling as Zero turns and finds them running. He moves to follow them before he trips on the broken glass, shouting at them to help him. His eye opens wide as he watches them ignore him, leave him, not even glancing back at Zero. 

The people who had raised him. The people he had spend his miserable life with, who he laughed with, dreamed with, fought with. 

He was always Zero to them.

He stands up when he hears the slow footsteps of someone and a flicker of a candle walking towards him. 

Instead of a guard he finds a boy with light, blonde hair, a tome in one hand and a candle in the other. They stare at each other, both silent as he examines the boy. Could he be one of the members of the family? He wore a robe which obviously showed that he had been sleeping, which meant they had woken him up. He didn't think they had infiltrated a part of the castle where one of the masters slept.

The boy looked so much younger than him, but he held an air of refinement and elegance that Zero would never have even if he lived to reach an old age. With his head held high he finally spoke to him.

"Who are you? Have you no shame? State your purpose or I shall personally finish you right here." His words were so formal Zero could barely understand them. They seemed like words of pity to him.

He falls on his knees and gives the boy a pitiful smile, the boy's brown eyes going wide.

"Please, just kill me."

The blonde boy stares at him before his eyebrows go down in noticeable anger.  

"You come here with the purpose of thievery and you beg for me to kill you? Do you have no pride?"

"No." Zero bites out and the boy stares at him with so much curiosity it makes Zero sick. He probably derived amusement from a man like Zero begging a royal to kill him.

"I'd rather be killed by a noble than continue living."

The boy's accusing expression disappears as he seems to decide on what to do with Zero. After the longest minutes of Zero's life he stares in wonder as the boy kneels in front of him, gazing at his eye instead of his eyepatch.

"I won't kill you. You're different, I can see it in you. I won't let you go to waste."

Zero stares at the boy, unsure of what to say, if he should kill him and escape. He starts thinking that maybe his gang had just left him as revenge for that one time years ago but they didn't mean it, knowing Zero would return. They must be waiting for him. They were his gang, his family. It was a mistake, Zero was nothing without them. His body belonged to them.

As he looks at the boy's eyes he doesn't want to believe that. He wants to believe the boy in front of him who didn't execute him. His eyes seemed so kind, so youthful unlike the nobles he had met. He's not sure what the boy implies to do with him but he lets himself fall to the floor, his head on the ground as he closed his eyes in defeat. 

"My name is Leon." He tells him as he grabs his chin and makes Zero look at him. There's a smile on his lips and a glint in his eyes that give Zero hope.

He's not sure what to say or what to do, so he tells him the only name he ever associated with himself.

"Zero."

He was fifteen when Leon saved him. 


End file.
